II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 702 

To authorize funding for, and increase accessibility to, the National Missing 

and Unidentified Persons System, to facilitate data sharing between 

such system and the National Crime Information Center database of 

the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to provide incentive grants to help 

facilitate reporting to such systems, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 31, 2011 

Mr. LIEBERMAN (for himself and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To authorize funding for, and increase accessibility to, the 

National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, to 

facilitate data sharing between such system and the National Crime Information Center database of the Federal 

Bureau of Investigation, to provide incentive grants to 

help facilitate reporting to such systems, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as ‘‘Billy’s Law’’ or the ‘‘Help 

5 Find the Missing Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF THE NATIONAL MISSING AND 

2 UNIDENTIFIED PERSONS SYSTEM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, through 

4 the Director of the National Institute of Justice, is author5 ized to maintain public databases, known as the ‘‘National 

6 Missing and Unidentified Persons System’’ or ‘‘NamUs’’, 

7 to contain missing persons records and unidentified re8 mains cases for purposes of assisting to identify missing 

9 people and solve cases of unidentified human remains. All 

10 functions, personnel, assets, liabilities, and administrative 

11 actions applicable to the National Missing and Unidenti12 fied Persons System carried out by the National Institute 

13 of Justice on the date before the date of the enactment 

14 of this Act shall be transferred to the National Missing 

15 and Unidentified Persons System authorized under this 

16 section as of the date of the enactment of this Act. 

17 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

18 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section not 

19 more than a total of $2,400,000 for each of the fiscal 

20 years 2012 through 2017. Notwithstanding any other pro21 vision of law, the total amount of Federal funds made 

22 available for any of the fiscal years 2012 through 2017 

23 to maintain NamUs may not exceed the amount described 

24 in the previous sentence. 


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1 SEC. 3. SHARING OF INFORMATION BETWEEN NCIC AND 

2 NAMUS. 

3 (a) SHARING OF INFORMATION.—Not later than the 

4 end of the 30-day period beginning on the date the online 

5 data entry format is updated under subsection (c), the At6 torney General shall, in accordance with this section, pro7 vide for information on missing persons and unidentified 

8 human remains contained in the NCIC database (as de9 fined in section 7) to be transmitted to, entered in, and 

10 otherwise shared with the NamUs databases (as defined 

11 in such section) and for such information contained in the 

12 NamUs databases to be transmitted to, entered in, and 

13 otherwise shared with the NCIC database. 

14 (b) RULES ON CONFIDENTIALITY.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

16 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney 

17 General, in consultation with the Director of the 

18 Federal Bureau of Investigation (in this Act referred 

19 to as the ‘‘FBI’’), shall promulgate rules pursuant 

20 to notice and comment that specify the information 

21 the Attorney General may provide from the NCIC 

22 files to the NamUs databases for purposes of this 

23 Act. Such rules shall— 

24 (A) provide for the protection of confiden25 tial, private, and law enforcement sensitive in26 formation contained in the NCIC files; 


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1 (B) be promulgated only after the Director 

2 approves recommendations by the Advisory Pol3 icy Board of the Criminal Justice Information 

4 Services Division of the FBI; 

5 (C) specify the circumstances in which por6 tions of information may be withheld from 

7 transfer, entry, or sharing from the NCIC data8 base to the NamUs databases; and 

9 (D) provide that once an authorized agen10 cy provides an authorization to permit the 

11 transmission, entering, or sharing of informa12 tion (or portions of information) from the 

13 NCIC database to the NamUs databases, such 

14 authorization shall be deemed to apply to any 

15 updates made to such information, unless other16 wise specified by the agency. 

17 In addition to promulgating such rules, the Attorney 

18 General, in consultation with the Director of the 

19 FBI, may also promulgate rules to further protect 

20 confidential, private, and law enforcement sensitive 

21 information, such as by creating process to permit 

22 an individual who is 21 years of age or older to 

23 proactively prohibit NamUs from creating a profile 

24 for the individual within the NamUs database if the 

25 individual were to go missing in the future, and to 


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1 permit an individual who is 21 years of age or older 

2 and who is voluntarily missing to request the re3 moval of a published profile of the individual from 

4 the NamUs database. 

5 (2) SUBMISSIONS PRIOR TO ONLINE DATA

6 ENTRY FORMAT UPDATE.—With respect to informa7 tion submitted to the NCIC database before the end 

8 of the 30-day period specified in subsection (a), the 

9 Attorney General may solicit from appropriate au10 thorized agencies authorization to transmit, enter, or 

11 share such information. 

12 (c) UPDATES.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

14 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney 

15 General shall update the online data entry format 

16 for the NCIC database and NamUs databases to 

17 provide State criminal justice agencies, offices of 

18 medical examiners, and offices of coroners with the 

19 option to authorize the submission of new informa20 tion and data that is reported to and entered into 

21 the NCIC database to simultaneously be submitted 

22 to and entered into the NamUs databases. 

23 (2) NCIC FORMAT.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of the 

2 NCIC database, an update described in para3 graph (1) shall include— 

4 (i) an update to the NCIC database 

5 online data entry format that States use in 

6 submitting missing persons and unidenti7 fied remains reports, including the addition 

8 of a new data field allowing States, on be9 half of the authorized agency that origi10 nally submitted the data, to select whether 

11 or not to have the NCIC report, subject to 

12 the rules promulgated under subsection 

13 (b), shared with the NamUs databases; 

14 and 

15 (ii) subject to subparagraph (B), a re16 quirement that as a condition of partici17 pating in the NCIC database, States must 

18 update their missing persons and unidenti19 fied remains collection processes from local 

20 and tribal law enforcement, medical exam21 iners, and coroners to enable the States to 

22 acquire information on whether or not the 

23 authorized agencies originally submitting 

24 data with respect to a missing person or 

25 unidentified remains have provided authorVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:16 Apr 01, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S702.IS S702

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1 ization to share the information with the 

2 NamUs databases. 

3 (B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A)(ii) 

4 shall not apply with respect to any State that 

5 has in effect a State law providing for a meth6 odology to authorize the sharing of information 

7 between the NCIC database and NamUs data8 bases. 

9 (d) AMENDMENTS TO TITLE XXXVII OF THE CRIME

10 CONTROL ACT OF 1990 TO REQUIRE REPORTS OF MISS11 ING CHILDREN TO NAMUS.— 

12 (1) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Section 

13 3701(a) of title XXXVII of the Crime Control Act 

14 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 5779(a)) is amended by striking 

15 the period and inserting the following: ‘‘and, con16 sistent with section 3 (including rules promulgated 

17 pursuant to section 3(b)) of the Help Find the Miss18 ing Act, shall also report such case, either directly 

19 or through authorization described in such section to 

20 transmit, enter, or share information on such case, 

21 to the NamUs databases (as defined in section 7 of 

22 such Act).’’. 

23 (2) STATE REQUIREMENTS.—Section 3702 of 

24 title XXXVII of the Crime Control Act of 1990 (42 

25 U.S.C. 5780) is amended— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or the 

2 National Crime Information Center computer 

3 database’’ and inserting ‘‘, the National Crime 

4 Information Center computer database, or the 

5 NamUs databases (as defined in section 7 of 

6 the Help Find the Missing Act)’’; 

7 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and the 

8 National Crime Information Center computer 

9 networks’’ and inserting ‘‘, the National Crime 

10 Information Center computer networks, and the 

11 NamUs databases (as so defined)’’; and 

12 (C) in paragraph (4)— 

13 (i) in the matter preceding subpara14 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘or the NamUs 

15 databases’’ after ‘‘National Crime Informa16 tion Center’’; and 

17 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

18 ‘‘and National Crime Information Center 

19 computer networks’’ and inserting ‘‘, Na20 tional Crime Information Center computer 

21 networks, and the NamUs databases’’. 

22 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

23 by this subsection shall apply with respect to reports 

24 made before, on, or after the date of the enactment 


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1 of this Act beginning on the last day of the 30-day 

2 period described in subsection (a). 

3 (e) AUTHORIZED AGENCIES AUTHORITY TO OVER4 RIDE INFORMATION.—An authorized agency may remove 

5 or override information (or portions of information) from 

6 the NamUs database and the NCIC database, as trans7 ferred from the NamUs database under this Act, if such 

8 information is submitted on behalf of a public user and 

9 such information is deemed by the authorized agency to 

10 be inaccurate. 

11 SEC. 4. INCENTIVE GRANTS PROGRAM. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 

13 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 

14 shall establish a program to provide grants to qualifying 

15 law enforcement agencies (as defined in subsection (j)), 

16 offices of coroners, offices of medical examiners, and other 

17 authorized agencies to facilitate the process of reporting 

18 information regarding missing persons and unidentified 

19 remains to the NCIC database and NamUs databases for 

20 purposes of assisting in locating such missing persons and 

21 identifying such remains. 

22 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—As a condition of a grant 

23 under this section, a grant recipient shall, with respect to 

24 each case reported to the agency or office of the recipient 


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1 relating to a missing person described in a category under 

2 subsection (e) or relating to unidentified remains— 

3 (1) not later than 72 hours after such case is 

4 reported to the agency or office and consistent with 

5 subsection (c), submit to the NCIC database and 

6 NamUs databases— 

7 (A) in the case of a missing person de8 scribed in a category under subsection (e), at 

9 least the minimum information described in 

10 subsection (f)(1); and 

11 (B) in the case of unidentified remains, at 

12 least the minimum information described in 

13 subsection (f)(2); and 

14 (2) not later than 60 days after the original 

15 entry of the report, verify and update any original 

16 report entered into the State law enforcement sys17 tem, the NCIC database, or NamUs databases after 

18 receipt of the grant with any additional information, 

19 including, to the greatest extent possible— 

20 (A) information on the extent to which 

21 DNA samples are available, including the avail22 ability of such samples submitted to the Na23 tional DNA Index System under subsection 

24 (b)(3); 


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1 (B) fingerprints, medical and dental 

2 records, and photographs of any distinguishing 

3 characteristics such as scars, marks, tattoos, 

4 piercings, and other unique physical character5 istics; 

6 (C) in the case of unidentified remains, 

7 photographs or digital images that may assist 

8 in identifying the decedent, including finger9 print cards, radiographs, palmprints, and dis10 tinctive features of the decedent’s personal ef11 fects; and 

12 (D) any other information determined to 

13 be appropriate by the Attorney General; and 

14 (3) not later than 60 days after the original 

15 entry of the report, to the greatest extent possible, 

16 submit to the National DNA Index System of the 

17 Federal Bureau of Investigation, established pursu18 ant to section 210304 of the Violent Crime Control 

19 and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, (either directly 

20 or through use of NamUs victims assistance re21 sources and DNA collection services) DNA samples 

22 and information relating to such case. 

23 For purposes of paragraph (2), in the case of information 

24 a grant recipient authorizes to be transferred, entered, or 

25 shared under section 3 between the NCIC database and 


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1 NamUs databases, any update to such information shall 

2 be simultaneously made with respect to both databases un3 less specified otherwise by the recipient. 

4 (c) SUBMISSION OF REPORTS.—To satisfy subsection 

5 (b)(1), a recipient of a grant under this section shall sub6 mit information required under such subsection— 

7 (1) separately to the NCIC database and 

8 NamUs databases; or 

9 (2) in accordance with section 3, simultaneously 

10 to the NamUs databases when reporting to the 

11 NCIC database or to the NCIC database when re12 porting to the NamUs databases. 

13 (d) PERMISSIBLE USE OF FUNDS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The permissible uses of 

15 grants awarded under this section include the use of 

16 funds— 

17 (A) to hire additional personnel, to acquire 

18 technology to facilitate timely data entry into 

19 the relevant databases; 

20 (B) to conduct contracting activities rel21 evant to outsourcing the processing of unidenti22 fied remains and the reporting of the resulting 

23 information to the NCIC database and NamUs 

24 databases; 


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1 (C) to train local law enforcement per2 sonnel, medical examiners, and coroners to use 

3 the NCIC database and NamUs databases; 

4 (D) to assist States’ transition into the 

5 new system under which information is shared 

6 between the NCIC database and NamUs data7 bases; and 

8 (E) for other purposes consistent with the 

9 goals of this section. 

10 (2) CLARIFICATION.—In no case may a recipi11 ent of a grant under this section use funds to enter 

12 or help facilitate the entrance of any false or mis13 leading information about missing persons or un14 identified remains. 

15 (e) CATEGORIES OF MISSING PERSONS.—The cat16 egories of missing persons described in this subsection are 

17 the following: 

18 (1) A missing person age 21 or older who— 

19 (A) is senile or is suffering from a proven 

20 mental or physical disability, as documented by 

21 a source deemed credible to an appropriate law 

22 enforcement entity; or 

23 (B) is missing under circumstances that 

24 indicate, as determined by an appropriate law 

25 enforcement entity— 


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1 (i) that the person’s physical safety 

2 may be endangered; 

3 (ii) that the disappearance may not 

4 have been voluntary, such as abduction or 

5 kidnaping; or 

6 (iii) that the disappearance may have 

7 been caused by a natural disaster or catas8 trophe (such as an airplane crash or ter9 rorist attack). 

10 (2) A missing person who does not meet the cri11 teria described in paragraph (1) but who meets one 

12 of the following criteria: 

13 (A) There is a reasonable concern, as de14 termined by an appropriate law enforcement en15 tity, for the safety of the missing person. 

16 (B) The person is under age 21 and eman17 cipated under the laws of the person’s State of 

18 residence. 

19 (f) MINIMUM INFORMATION REQUIRED.— 

20 (1) CONTENT FOR MISSING PERSONS.—The 

21 minimum information described in this section, with 

22 respect to a missing person, is the following: 

23 (A) The name, date of birth, city and 

24 State of residence, gender, race, height, weight, 

25 eye color, and hair color of the missing person. 


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1 (B) The date and location of the last 

2 known contact with the missing person. 

3 (C) The category described in subsection 

4 (e) in which the missing person is classified. 

5 (2) CONTENT FOR UNIDENTIFIED HUMAN RE6 MAINS.—The minimum information described in this 

7 section, with respect to unidentified human remains, 

8 is the following: 

9 (A) The estimated age, gender, race, 

10 height, weight, hair color, and eye color. 

11 (B) Any distinguishing characteristics such 

12 as scars, marks, tattoos, piercings, and other 

13 unique physical characteristics. 

14 (C) A description of clothing found on the 

15 decedent. 

16 (D) City and State where the unidentified 

17 human remains were found. 

18 (E) Information on how to contact the law 

19 enforcement agency handling the investigation 

20 and the unidentified human remains. 

21 (F) Information on the extent to which 

22 DNA samples are available, including the avail23 ability of such samples submitted to the Na24 tional DNA Index System under subsection 

25 (b)(3). 


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1 (g) ADMINISTRATION.—The Attorney General shall 

2 prescribe requirements, including with respect to applica3 tions, for grants awarded under this section and shall de4 termine the amount of each such grant. 

5 (h) CONFIDENTIALITY.—As a condition of a grant 

6 under this section, the recipient of the grant shall ensure 

7 that information reported under the grant meets the re8 quirements promulgated by the Attorney General under 

9 section 3(b)(1). 

10 (i) ANNUAL SUMMARY.—For each of the fiscal years 

11 2013 through 2016, the Attorney General shall publish 

12 an annual statistical summary of the reports required by 

13 subsection (c). 

14 (j) QUALIFYING LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY DE15 FINED.—For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘qualifying 

16 law enforcement agency’’ means a State, local, or tribal 

17 law enforcement agency. 

18 (k) FUNDING.— 

19 (1) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The Attorney 

20 General may not make a grant under subsection (a) 

21 unless the applicant involved agrees, with respect to 

22 the costs to be incurred by the applicant in carrying 

23 out the purposes described in this section, to make 

24 available non-Federal contributions (in cash or in 

25 kind) toward such costs in an amount equal to not 


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1 less than $1 for each $2 of Federal funds provided 

2 in the grant. 

3 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

4 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

5 this section $8,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 

6 2012 through 2016. 

7 SEC. 5. REPORT ON BEST PRACTICES. 

8 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

9 of this Act, the Attorney General shall issue a report to 

10 offices of medical examiners, offices of coroners, and Fed11 eral, State, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies de12 scribing the best practices for the collection, reporting, 

13 and analysis of data and information on missing persons 

14 and unidentified human remains. Such best practices 

15 shall— 

16 (1) provide an overview of the NCIC database 

17 and NamUs databases; 

18 (2) describe how local law enforcement agen19 cies, offices of medical examiners, and offices of 

20 coroners should access and use the NCIC database 

21 and NamUs databases; 

22 (3) describe the appropriate and inappropriate 

23 uses of the NCIC database and NamUs databases; 

24 and 


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1 (4) describe the standards and protocols for the 

2 collection, reporting, and analysis of data and infor3 mation on missing persons and unidentified human 

4 remains. 

5 SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act and biennially thereafter, 

8 the Attorney General shall submit to the Committee on 

9 the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the 

10 Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate a report de11 scribing the status of the NCIC database and NamUs 

12 databases. 

13 (b) CONTENTS.—The report required by subsection 

14 (a) shall describe, to the extent available, information 

15 on— 

16 (1) the process of information sharing between 

17 the NCIC database and NamUs databases; and 

18 (2) the programs funded by grants awarded 

19 under section 4. 

20 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

21 For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions 

22 apply: 

23 (1) AUTHORIZED AGENCY.—The term ‘‘author24 ized agency’’ means a Government agency with an 

25 originating agency identification (ORI) number and 


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1 that is a criminal justice agency, as defined for pur2 poses of subpart A of part 20 of title 28, Code of 

3 Federal Regulations. 

4 (2) NAMUS DATABASES.—The term ‘‘NamUs 

5 databases’’ means the National Missing and Uniden6 tified Persons System Missing Persons database and 

7 National Missing and Unidentified Persons System 

8 Unidentified Decedents database maintained by the 

9 National Institute of Justice of the Department of 

10 Justice. 

11 (3) NCIC DATABASE.—The term ‘‘NCIC data12 base’’ means the National Crime Information Center 

13 Missing Person File and National Crime Informa14 tion Center Unidentified Person File of the National 

15 Crime Information Center database of the Federal 

16 Bureau of Investigation, established pursuant to sec17 tion 534 of title 28, United States Code. 

18 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any 

19 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 

20 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Is21 lands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Common22 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

Æ 


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